New President of Lebanon, General Michel Aoun, has condemned Turkey’s refusal to recognize the fact of the Armenian Genocide and Ankara’s current actions against the Christian population.
Editor-in-Chief of Lebanon-based Armenian newspaper Aztag, Shahan Kandakharian, told the aforementioned to Armenian News – NEWS.am.
In his words, after three years the representatives of different communities of Lebanon were finally able to reach an agreement. “Presidential elections were held. Today is a historical day for Lebanon: the republic’s president has been elected. This was, of course, the result of long and complicated talks,” Kandakharian noted.
According to him, certain analysts also link this with the agreement signed between the outside forces and key players in the region. “But it is still early to confirm this. However, it is logical that this will positively influence the region,” Kandakharian said.
The elected president already supported good relations with the Armenian community of Lebanon and was the political ally of ARF Dashnaktsutyun, he noted. “And I must say that especially in the framework of the events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, he made a rather brave statement on the need to recognize the Armenian Genocide and condemn the actions of Turkey. He also compared the Armenian Genocide with the principles applied against the Christian population today, actually laying the responsibility for all these actions on Ankara,” Kandakharian stressed, once again adding that the Lebanese President has quite close ties with the Armenian community.
The Lebanese Parliament held presidential elections Monday. General Michel Aoun was elected as a new president. The country was in a political crisis for two and a half years after the end of the ex-President Michel Suleiman’s term in 2014.
